Front Page
by MinxySix
Summary: Post-Knockout one shot. "He ripped the page off furiously, his sorrow-stricken face plastered on the cover of a gossip magazine. . ."


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Castle. Even if I cried a bit more.

**A/N: **I really, _really _should not be writing! I have a Law exam at 9am tomorrow morning. But I just can't shift this fic bunny. It's literally clinging onto my face. I figured if I just did it I could then revise, right? Right. . .

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><p><strong>Front Page<strong>

_**Real "Nikki Heat" in critical condition as novelist Richard Castle struggles with grief**_

_Reports have been flooding in that best-selling "Nikki Heat" novelist Richard Castle is in a state of grief since his muse, Detective Kate Beckett, was shot on Tuesday._

_His shadowing of the NYPD officer has spanned over three years, and throughout that time their relationship has been rumoured not just to have been on the professional side. Since her reported arrival at the hospital at around 11:45am two days ago for emergency surgery, Richard Castle has only been photographed leaving the hospital once and returning less than an hour later._

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He ripped the page off furiously, his sorrow-stricken face plastered on the cover of a gossip magazine crumpled in his hands as he flung it across the room with a cry of anger and sorrow. _Muse_, he thought bitterly. God she hated that word.

Normally he could handle the paparazzi, most of his life he was unhindered by them, but the amount of times he'd come close to attacking some of them in his blind sorrow and anger in the past 48 hours had been dangerously close. _She isn't on her death bed, she isn't._

"_What's going to happen to the next 'Nikki Heat'?"_

"_What are the circumstances of her shooting?"_

"_Do you think she's going to wake up?"_

"_Do you still deny that you and Miss Beckett are romantically involved?"_

He wanted to scream. He hadn't been without her for three whole years, and now he was the one being pushed over the edge and he needed her. He needed her to drag him out of the rabbit hole with her reason and compassion and those beautiful chestnut eyes. Oh god if only she'd just open her eyes.

His mother had told him to come home and rest; he said he couldn't.

Alexis has asked him if he needed anything; he lied.

Jim had asked him what he'd said to his daughter as she lay bleeding into the grass; Castle just looked at him and he knew.

He'd tell anyone anything right now if it got her to wake up. Tell a thousand lies or a thousand truths.

_I can't get through this without you._

_**Novelist Richard Castle remains in hospital heartbroken as muse lies on death bed**_

_In the past five days Richard Castle has only been photographed leaving the hospital twice since the shooting of real-life "Nikki Heat", Detective Kate Beckett. He is reported to be vigil at Detective Beckett's bedside constantly and in a state of heartbreak. The novelist still however denies any relationship between himself and his muse. _

_Reports have also surfaced that the Detective was targeted at the funeral of her previous Captain, Roy Montgomery, but reasons for this attack are currently unknown._

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One hand shook as he picked up the flimsy cup of monkey-peed-in-battery-acid coffee, the other holding onto her cool slender hand. He'd already turned the magazine over.

He closed his eyes for a moment, the red light of her heart monitor still flashing behind his eyes.

His daughter pushed open the door quietly, gently placing a sandwich next to him.

"Dad. . ."

"I know. . . I will. I'm sorry Alexis."

He pulled her into a hug as she rested her head on top of his, both of them staring down at the fragile shape of his partner, her whole complexion washed out bar the darkness that haloed her eyes.

Alexis felt a drop hit her arm that was draped round his neck. She didn't move, just squeezed him a little tighter.

_**Future of "Nikki Heat" uncertain**_

_With the untimely shooting of "Nikki Heat" inspiration, Detective Kate Beckett, it seems like the future of the series seems uncertain once the third in the series "Heat Rises" is published._

_Paula Haas, Richard Castle's agent, has released the following statement: "Right now we're primarily concerned about the recovery of Detective Kate Beckett, who along with the rest of the NYPD have been incredibly generous and accommodating these past three years."_

_Richard Castle has yet to release a statement._

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The thought of picking up a pen made him feel ill; the most natural thing in the world to him, let alone anything else.

_Please Kate, please. Don't leave me._

He rubbed his hands over his face, the lines that gave him that famous rugged attraction even more pronounced than usual making him look almost devoid of life. The darkness under his eyes a deep, bruised purple.

Without thinking about it he moved a tuft of brown hair from her forehead. Linking their fingers again immediately afterwards. Watching and waiting. _Always._

He woke up sometime later, his spine aching as he lifted his head a little. The light was streaming through the faded curtains and onto her face. Little particles floating in the rays like fairy dust.

He felt a heartbeat against his knuckle; it wasn't a heartbeat.

Her finger twitched again.

"_**Nikki Heat" inspiration lives to fight crime another day**_

_Photographs from around 10am this morning show Richard Castle and his partner, Detective Kate Beckett, quietly leaving the hospital with his mother and daughter, along with Detective Beckett's father. _

_The two were seen smiling and holding hands, looking exhausted but happy as they ducked into a waiting car._

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><p><strong>AN: **Hope you enjoyed it! Any mistakes are my own. Reviews are lovely pleasethanks. Only even if to give me happy vibes for tomorrow's exam that I have done a distinct lack of work for. WELL DONE ME. Minx xxxx


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